What Facebook Taught Me About Research

Distance education has exploded, in recent years, with more students taking online courses than ever before. However, despite the explosion in online course takers, the number of students who are not completing their online degree programs is also growing. Online students report feeling isolation, and a disconnect with their classmates and educational institution. Another phenomenon, social media, has also experienced explosive growth, including the largest in modern society, Facebook. The goal of my research study was to understand if there could be a connection between the use of social media, specifically Facebook and Facebook Messenger, and the isolation that distance students experience. My hope was that this might pave the way to further research using social media as a tool to curb rising attrition rates. Unfortunately, Facebook had some things to teach me first.